Halfway Home!

Yesterday (July 15th) was to be a long day for us, so we had a 4:30 AM wake-up call. We had a nice breakfast in a little diner (Freida's) in Willmar, Minnesota, and then got on the road. The storm had passed, and therefore the winds had shifted to a much more "friendly" westerly breeze. As a result, we made some amazing time! We knew that it would be some 96-97 miles to Minneapolis. Our first break came at the 30-mile mark, and we had lunch at 61 miles (11:30 AM), and those were the only re-fueling stops that we made. The only other stop was in Darwin, where we saw the world's largest ball of twine made by one person. This was quite the highlight of the tour! (Sarcasm intended). At North Central University in downtown Minneapolis, we had a chance to shower and, and I got a self-guided tour of the University. North Central is one of our key sponsors, and a few of the riders have attended or are attending there.
In the evening, we had a very unusual experience...this just happens to be the weekend for the International Biking Film Festival in Minneapolis. We gathered first in Gold Medal Park with hundreds of other cyclists. Then, we took a very slow 6-mile ride through downtown Minneapolis en route to the Art Museum. We were really clogging up traffic all along the way (the Twins were home playing the Chicago White Sox), but it was a lot of fun. We probably saw more people in that one ride than we had seen for days in Montana. Our group wore the Just & Hope jerseys, which led to some conversations about our group and the cause. On Saturday evening, we are doing a benefit concert at a local coffee shop, and invited anyone interested.
Today (July 16) was a rest day for our group. We have been staying at the home of a Venture Expeditions board member's house. It is large, comfortable, and is on one of the thousands of lakes here in Minnesota. We have also been fed like royalty every few hours. Reading, napping, and playing on the lake have been the most strenous parts of our day. We even watched the day's action in the Tour de France! A few of the team members did a radio interview. A few others are back at the film festival as I write this promoting our cause and the concert tomorrow night.
So, how are we feeling at the half-way point? Pretty good, I would say. The legs and lungs are strong. Zach is recovering from his recent crash, though he is still lacking some fine motor control in his left hand. My wounds from the crash in the first week are almost entirely healed. (I almost lost control of the bike at one point yesterday.) The team is doing very well. Our personalities, while very different from one another, seem to blend well together. When a group of 14 people spends this much time together, we get to know each other VERY well!
Today marks one month to the day since I last saw my wife and daughter. That, as you may expect, is a "record." We call or text fairly often. They are enjoying the work at Camp-Of-The-Woods.
The next couple of days include rather short bike rides, and numerous opportunities to share about the cause.
Thanks again to our supporters and readers!